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Made with just a handful of pantry staples, this Apple Dump Cake may just become your new easy go-to dessert recipe!
Do you ever have those days when you’re craving a sweet, cozy dessert, but you pretty much have zero desire to make anything?
Ha! Me too!
This Easy Apple Dump Cake is going to become one of your new favorites. If you have just a handful of ingredients and 5 minutes to prep it, you’ll be enjoying this sweet fall inspired treat in no time.
If you’re feeling just a little extra, add a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream and a drizzle of salted caramel sauce for some caramel apple vibes.
EASY APPLE DUMP CAKE
A few months ago, I shared a recipe for Easy Peach Cobbler. Aside from my Pumpkin Crunch Cake recipe, I hadn’t played around with making dump cakes much before that.
Maybe it’s because I hate the name dump cake. I don’t know why I had a mental block toward these recipes because it turns out that they’re pretty awesome.
For one, they take just a handful of ingredients. Most of which I keep on hand.
For two, they take maaaaybe 5 minutes to prep before they go in the oven.
For three, they’re pretty easy to tweak for whatever flavors you want or season you’re in.
Like this apple version – apples and pecans scream fall to me, and this is an even easier fall dessert than my Caramel Apple Poke Cake. Because sometimes you just need an easy, no-brainer fall dessert, ok??
DUMP CAKE INGREDIENTS
Most dump cake recipes use just a handful of basic ingredients:
- Canned fruit in syrup or pie filling
- Cake mix
- Butter
Depending on what flavor you want your cake to be, you can switch up the fruit or pie filling or the cake mix or add extra ingredients.
For this apple version, I used apple pie filling and added apple pie spice and pecans.
I always have a couple boxes of cake mix on hand, but you could make this with a homemade cake mix if you prefer! If you have some homemade apple pie filling on hand you could use it, but I think the canned stuff is just as good in this recipe.
After all, the point of this kind of dessert is to dump it all together and have a cake that’s ready to bake in just a few minutes.
HOW TO MAKE APPLE DUMP CAKE
You’ve probably picked up by now how this process is going to go, but let’s review how to make this Apple Dump Cake:
- Pour the apple pie filling into a 13×9-inch cake pan and stir in half of the apple pie spice.
- Sprinkle the cake mix on top, followed by the rest of the apple pie spice and the chopped pecans.
- Pour melted butter on top.
- Bake!
THAT’S IT. That’s the recipe.
It’s so easy anyone could make this cake. If you have a kid who is just getting started in the kitchen, cake mix recipes like this one and my Ridiculously Simple Chocolate Crinkle Cookies are great for them to make completely on their own. (With you helping them with the oven, of course!)
But really, it doesn’t matter if your kid is making this or if you’re making it yourself, this is an easy recipe you’re for sure going to want to make again!
Apple Dump Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cans apple pie filling 21 ounces each
- 1 teaspoon apple pie spice divided use
- 1 box French vanilla or yellow cake mix 15.25 ounces
- ½ cup chopped pecans optional
- ¾ cup salted butter melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9×13-inch pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- Spread apple pie filling evenly in bottom of prepared pan. Sprinkle apple pie filling with ½ teaspoon apple pie spice and mix to combine.
- Evenly distribute the dry cake mix over the apple pie filling. Sprinkle the remaining ½ teaspoon apple pie spice over the dry cake mix. If you are using pecans, sprinkle them evenly over the dry cake mix as well.
- Pour melted butter over top, tilting pan to cover as much of the top with butter as possible.
- Bake in preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes or until light golden brown, mostly dry on top and bubbly around edges.
- Serve warm with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Took it to my friend’s house a Packer game, she,her husband and son are head over heels for it! I have to admit it, so am I!
Well, I wrote a long review on this recipe but doesnโt look like it took. The short versionโฆ this recipe is the BOMB! I will check back again to see if original review posts. If not I will try again. My first dump cake ever and it was the hit of the party! Thank you sweetheart for posting this recipe and making my dayโฆ I am so happy, proud and blessed! My Son absolutely loved it! Apple Pie is his favorite!
My first ever Dump cake. I chose this one because my son loves Apple Pie! It was a Huge hit at the family get together today! I took the lead from a couple of reviews, used 1 tsp apple pie spice in applesโฆ added 1/2 cup dark brown sugar on top of cake mixโฆ 1/2 tablespoon of apple pie spice on top of thatโฆ then covered the whole top with sliced butter squares. 1&3/4 sticks of COLD butter. Cooked mine for around 55 minutes. Thank you so much for posting this it will be my go to apple pie dessert! It also traveled well to our party – served it a couple of hours after baking it.
I tried this but used spice cake mix instead and omitted the apple pie spice. It was delicious.
So happy to see that you enjoyed the recipe! Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving your feedback!
-Jamie
We love these types of recipes in our home. I didn’t melt the butter, but instead put cold butter pats on top and i used the cinnamon toast crunch seasoning instead of apple pie draining seasoning. I’ll let you know how it turns out!